US stocks open higher despite Moody's threat
NEW YORK: US stocks opened higher Thursday shrugging off Moody's threat to downgrade US debt, with more attention to slightly positive jobs and consumer spending data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.89 (0.11 percent) to 12,505.50 in the first 10 minutes of trade.
The broader S&P 500 was up 2.64 (0.20 percent) to 1,320.36, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 3.83 (0.14 percent) at 2,800.75.
Moody's warning late Wednesday that it was increasingly concerned about the possibility of a US debt default did not seem to impact traders.
The market instead appeared to take its cue from the release of new unemployment data which showed a second consecutive weekly fall in initial applications for unemployment insurance, thought the number remained high.
Also helping was data showing an ever-so-slight 0.1 percent uptick in retail sales in June.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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